Abstract

Emergency responders lack support to effectively share information and establish a common operational picture (COP), for reaching shared situational understanding of threats and incidents. This challenge is multifaceted: lack of a systematic overview of information elements that are critical to share in different crisis scenarios; no common map interface in place using standard symbols; and different terminologies used across disciplines, resulting in possible communication and coordination problems. The paper presents a research project initiated to provide a systematic approach for effective sharing, integration and use of information from different sources, to establish a COP and shared situational understanding among multiple actors in emergency response. The solution to be developed will provide a common map-based interface, integrating harmonisation of terminology and collaboration support for information sharing and synthesis. The enhanced COP will also support evaluation and learning from exercises and incidents. The project involves close collaboration with emergency management stakeholders in Norway, for requirements analysis, participatory design, and validation of project deliverables. The research will improve information sharing and decision support in emergency operations centres, which will contribute to improve societal resilience through more effective response capability.